


Unexpected Emotions

by Zaffie



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: And Lorelei Was A Loser Ok, And Skye Thinks It's Kinda Cute, Bonding, But He's Sad, Deep And Meaningful Conversation, F/M, Gen, Implied Rape/Non-con, In Which Ward Has Feelings For Skye, It's Ok Skye Can Handle This, Poor Ward, Sorry Ward, Ward Has Real Emotions Now, Ward Is Traumatised And Sad, nailed it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-12
Updated: 2014-03-12
Packaged: 2018-01-15 11:29:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1303270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zaffie/pseuds/Zaffie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Lorelei invaded his mind, Ward has questions - for himself. How much of this was his fault? And who is he going to tell about it? Alone and miserable, he turns to Skye for answers. And she provides good ones. Because she's Skye.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unexpected Emotions

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously I had to write this after watching 1x15, Yes Men, because MAN, that episode was so full of Skyeward. I loved it, it was amazing.
> 
> This fic contains spoilers. Duh. If you haven't watched 1x15, don't read it.

Ward is sitting on the edge of her bed and staring into space when Skye comes out of the bathroom.

     “Hi,” she says shyly. It’s strange, that she’s gone from being so callous and belligerent to actually caring what Ward thinks about her.

     Ward inclines his head, but doesn’t turn to look at her or say anything. Skye gets up on the bed and slides her legs beneath the covers. She is _so bored_ of these clothes – it’s been a week that she’s been wearing them now. They’re her most comfortable clothes, and she wouldn’t have thought that she’d long for jeans and bras and itchy (but gorgeous) shirts so desperately, but she really does.

     When she’s settled back into a half-reclining position with her head on the pillow, she looks at Ward again, curiously. He hasn’t moved or spoken (or blinked). “Ward?” she asks. “Are you okay?” He moves a little when she says his name, but he still doesn’t say anything. He just stares away from her. “Is this about Lorelei?”

     “I nearly killed May,” he says numbly, and finally Skye has her answer. Well, good. She was starting to worry about him.

     “Are you… is this really bothering you?” She’s never seen him so blank, and he’s not exactly well-known for his defining facial expressions.

     “I felt so helpless,” he confesses.

     “It wasn’t your fault, Ward. It’s like the Berserker Staff all over again. You just don’t have a great track record with anything Asgardian, that’s all.” He doesn’t look convinced, so Skye hastens to rally more arguments. “Besides, it wasn’t just you that Lorelei controlled. She did the same thing to Fitz, and I bet she totally would have done it to Coulson if she’d found him.”

     Ward sighs, a deep, forlorn sound. He places a heavy hand on Skye’s leg, just above her knee, and holds on tight. Whatever’s bothering him, Skye hasn’t fixed it. “How are you feeling?” he asks, trying to be polite.

     “Who cares? I’m bored of people talking about me. We’re talking about you right now. Is there something else wrong?”

     He breathes. He grips her thigh. He looks at his feet, dangling off the edge of the bed, and he doesn’t say a word. Skye watches his back and his hunched, unhappy shoulders and waits for him.

     It takes a good ten minutes, but finally Ward blurts out, “I had sex with Lorelei.” He pulls his shoulders up to his ears and cringes as though he’s expecting Skye to slap him.

     Instead, she asks, “Did she have any weird Asgardian bits under all that leather?”

     Ward finally turns around to look at her. “I hate myself for it.”

     So this is serious, then, Skye thinks. She wonders about the ramifications of having sex when not in complete control of one’s mental faculties. Is this rape? Should she be getting Ward a counsellor? Is someone else on the bus better qualified to handle this?

     Ward is twisting his mouth nervously, waiting for her response. _No_ , Skye tells herself. You don’t get to palm this off on anyone else. He came to _you_.

     “I don’t hate you,” she says.

     “You should.”

     She wants to tell him to stop being stupid, but she doesn’t think that will help. “It wasn’t your decision, Ward, just like anything else you did under her control. It’s not a betrayal. It doesn’t mean that you have any weird dominatrix kinks, or that from now on you’re always going to sleep with SHIELD’s enemies.”

     “I’ve been trained to resist people just like her,” he says, and he sounds almost desperate.

     “None of this is your fault,” Skye tells him firmly. “Lorelei has magic powers.” Ward rolls his eyes, and Skye remembers that he probably doesn’t believe in magic. “Tell you what. Think of it as less of a magical power and more like… um… a date rape drug.”

     Ward jerks his head up and stares at her in horror. “I wasn’t _raped_.”

     Skye wonders about what sort of negative connotations that word might have to a man. “I didn’t say you were. I said you were roofied. Or drugged, or whatever you want to call it.”

     “I wasn’t even attracted to her,” Ward mutters.

     “I agree,” Skye says. “She wasn’t as hot as half the people on this bus. Yourself included.”

     The edges of a smile touch Ward’s eyes. “I don’t love Lorelei.”

     “That’s okay. Lorelei loves herself enough.” Skye pauses, wonders if she should provide a personal example right now. This is probably not the time. Instead, she pats the bed next to her and says, “You’re too tall, sitting up there. Join me on my recliner.”

     Hesitantly, Ward leans back until he’s lying next to her on the narrow hospital bed. Skye wouldn’t think a guy who was so _big_ – tall, broad-shouldered, the whole package –could squash into such a tiny space. He fits well next to her, she thinks with some surprise. The curve of her hip fits neatly just above his, and when her head falls to the side it lands comfortably on the flesh of his shoulder.

     “I told her things,” he admits. His chin moves against Skye’s hair. “Things I’ve never told anyone before.”

     Skye thinks about it for a moment. “You feel like she owns your secrets,” she says eventually. “I understand.” She waits again, then adds, “Hey, Ward? Can I give you some advice even though I’m, like, ten years younger than you and I used to live in a van?”

     “Always,” he says promptly. “Unless it’s advice on physical training.”

     “You don’t need advice on PT. You have got that stuff _down_.” She grins, and then continues. “I think you need to reclaim your secrets. You need to tell someone else, tell them of your own free will, and then your secrets will be yours again and it won’t matter so much that Lorelei knows, because she won’t be the _only_ one who knows.”

     Ward mulls this over for a while, and Skye’s happy to just lie there next to him. He smells sort of nice, she thinks vaguely. Like conditioner. Since when do guys use conditioner? No wonder Ward has such good hair.

     “Can I tell you?” he asks.

     Skye really didn’t expect that. She stares at him, and he looks at her with his dark eyes. “Yes,” she says, and it comes out a bit more breathy and quiet than she intended. For some reason, this feels like a big step. Like getting married, or something.

     “I think I-” he cuts himself off and turns his face away from her.

     “Ward,” Skye says. “Please tell me.”

     Ward takes a deep breath and mumbles, “IdinkIwarrafeelaloos.”

     Skye presses her lips together to hold back the giggles. “I, uh, didn’t quite catch that?”

     “I think I,” he pauses and swallows hard, “I think I have feelings for you.”

     An air of satisfaction hangs in the room when the words are out. _There, he said it,_ the walls seem to be saying.

     “What kind of feelings are we talking about here? Good or bad?”

     “Good.”

     “Are you just feeling like you want to have sex with me? Because a lot of guys feel that. Totally not worth it – not to undermine my own sexual performance or anything, but-”

     He interrupts, which is probably a good thing. “I’m feeling like I might – maybe – want to take you out on a date.”

     “A proper date? Where we talk a lot and kiss some?”

     “Exactly,” Ward says. He looks pleased that she’s figured it out. “I like you, Skye, and not because you’re beautiful. Because you’re aggravating and frustrating and everything you say seems to get under my skin like no one else can.”

     “Well this is an excellent start.”

     “And you’re witty, and smart, and you actually care about other people’s feelings. You know so much more about social situations than I ever will and I’m pretty sure that you were the one who pulled this team together and made us a family. When you were shot I felt as though someone had reached inside me and ripped out my heart and I don’t think I want to live without you.”

     “…Wow.” There isn’t much else Skye can say, really, not to all that. “Okay.”

     “Okay what?”

     She smiles and presses her face into Ward’s chest. “Okay I’ll go on a date with you, silly.”

     She can practically _feel_ Ward glowing from where she’s lying next to him. He folds his arms around her and puts his lips against her hair, which is a bit gross because she hasn’t washed it for _ages_ but it feels good. It feels right.

     “There’s a flaw in the plan,” Skye says suddenly when they’ve been cuddling for fifteen minutes.

     “What?” Ward is alarmed.

     “I’ll have to get you a new nickname. I don’t think you’re a robot anymore.”


End file.
